My takeaways from Dana Loesch’s interview with Kevin Roberts on Tucker Carlson’s antisemitic rant with Nick Fuentes

Kevin Roberts, President of The Heritage Foundation, ignited a firestorm last week for his remarks about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes. Dana Loesch, host of The Dana Show, interviewed Roberts on October 31 and did a stellar job! Below are my four main takeaways:

1. DANA: “Is it venomous to say you hate Christian Zionists?” ROBERTS: “Of course it is…” DANA: “Because TUCKER SAID THOSE THINGS. Is that not sowing division?” ROBERTS: (He possibly thought the quote was from Fuentes because there was several seconds of silence.) “It’s certainly not helpful.” Not helpful? That’s it? And then, he commenced to defend Carlson, saying he “remains and, as I have said before, ALWAYS will be a close friend of The Heritage Foundation.” To use the word, “always” is pretty extreme, especially given the fact that Tucker has been “going off the rails” with his rhetoric lately. For some reason, Roberts has a conspicuous loyalty to Tucker. But why? I can’t say for sure, but I’ll speculate. There was a saying in the old days of newspaper printing, "Never get at odds with someone who buys ink by the barrel." The technology is much different, but unfortunately, that same apprehension to “ruffle the feathers” of a powerful person can still exist today. I can’t help but to wonder if Roberts is afraid to get at odds with Tucker, who has hundreds of millions of followers, and is one of the most influential voices in America. 

2. Roberts called the people who objected to Tucker’s comments a “venomous coalition attacking him.” He used the word cancel/cancelling/cancellation 20 times during the interview. Dana rightly pushed back on that notion that everyone was wanting to cancel Tucker or even Fuentes. Most of us believe in freedom of speech. And not just their freedom but our freedom to challenge and bring accountability. He never used that strong of language to describe Tucker, who said “I hate Christian Zionists” and called Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz “Christian Zionists” who have been “seized by this brain virus.”  Or even Fuentes, who praised Stalin and Hitler!

3. Roberts said, “Someone can be a Christian and not be a Zionist, THAT IS TO SAY they support Israel, and they certainly are supportive of the Jewish people and stand shoulder to shoulder with them against antisemitism.” (THAT WAS HIS DEFINITION OF A CHRISTIAN, WHO IS NOT A ZIONIST.) Then, he continues. “But it doesn’t mean that therefore we have to salute to everything in particular that the Israeli government does.” (APPARENTLY, THAT’S HIS DEFINITION OF A CHRISTIAN WHO IS A ZIONIST). That tells me that he doesn’t really know what a “Christian Zionist” is from the perspective of those of us who identify as such. It does not mean that you agree with everything the Israeli government does. And yes, we’re quite aware that Israel is a very secular country. The Jews have made plenty of mistakes—in biblical times and in modern times—but that speaks to the faithfulness of God. He made a covenant with the Jewish people, and it’s not based on their good behavior. 

Being a “Christian Zionist” simply means that (a) we are first Christians, and (b) we support the Jewish people’s right to be in the land that was given to them by God about 3,500 years ago (see Numbers 34). There was also a legal process that began with the Balfour Proclamation in 1917 and ended with an approval by the League of Nations about 5 years later and accepted by the international community. If he is a Christian, as he alluded to (although being a Catholic or a part of any other denomination doesn’t alone make you a Christian), he should know the numerous references in the Bible that encourage us—with even promises of blessings—to support the land of Israel and the Jewish people.

Moreover, Roberts said in an earlier video (that Dana showed before the interview), “It’s important for all of us, assuming we are American citizens, to put the interest of our own country first.” Apparently, he feels that there is an additional standard to qualify as a Christian Zionist—to put Israel first. This may come as a shocker to Mr. Roberts, but you can be a Christian Zionist and still put America (or any home country) first! And no place in the Bible (that I’m aware of) does God require us to put Israel before our own homeland. We can “walk and chew gum.” There is a reason that flight attendants instruct those with children to put your own oxygen mask on first and then your child’s. America needs to stay healthy in order to continue to be a blessing to Israel.

4. He also said, “I’m supportive of Israel. I’m a very faithful Roman Catholic. It would be a violation of the tenants of my faith to be anything other than supportive of Israel.” Excuse me. I can’t let him get away with that. Has he forgotten that less than a year ago, the Vatican had a display of Jesus wrapped in a keffiyeh? And Pope Francis accusing Israel of genocide for simply defending themselves against barbaric murderers? And there are factions within the Catholic Church that participate in the BDS boycott against Israel, including The Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men, The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Pax Christi, a Catholic “peace and justice organization.” 

In closing, my impression is that Kevin Roberts is a good man, and he’s very smart and well-spoken. And that was no softball interview by Dana! I also think the Heritage Foundation is an incredible organization for good in this country. But we have the right to scrutinize him if he says something we disagree with. Roberts himself said in the interview, “When we disagree with a person’s thoughts and opinions, we challenge those ideas and debate.” I guess he thinks that’s “good for the goose but not the gander” because that’s all we did with him—challenged his ideas. And he called it a venomous attack and an attempt to cancel him and The Heritage Foundation. 

It’s called “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17). And “Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm], But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 11:14, amp). I don’t have any experience as a maritime pilot of a ship. But I am a retired airline pilot, and I can tell you that if you get off course only one degree (which would not even be noticeable), you would get off-course a mile for every 60 miles. Across the United States, that would miss your destination by 50 miles. When good organizations begin to compromise and/or go woke, they usually start by veering off by a small, one degree increment. Roberts should be grateful that a lot of people cared deeply enough to sound off (albeit, I’m sure there were a few unreasonable lunatics) before Heritage gets very far off course.